New allergy campaign to tackle labelling and improve awareness

The campaign follows news that serious allergic reactions in children, such as life-threatening anaphylaxis, have increased seven fold in the last decade. The campaign aims to educate the public in how to recognize the triggers and symptoms of food allergy – and to teach people in how to react in case of emergency.

“The first element of this campaign is the launch of the International Minimum Standards for the Allergic Child at School document that establishes minimum requirements for the safety of allergic children at school,”​ said EAACI president Professor Cezmi Akdis.

“A third of all life-threatening allergic reactions occur at school where children are exposed to an environment of new foods and are at risk of coming into contact with trigger foods.”​

Labelling​

The EAACI said it will also engage with EU authorities to improve food labelling and to simplify access to anaphylaxis emergency treatment.

The group noted that although many foods have ‘may contain’ labels – such labels are not regulated and are generally put in place by food manufacturers on their own initiative.

The problem with this is that different producers use different criteria and allergy thresholds when issuing the ‘may contain’ label – meaning that current labels represent different levels of contamination and hence different levels of risk., said the EAACI.

Allergy increase​

More than 17 million people in Europe suffer from food allergies, with 3.5 million younger than 25 years. The sharpest increase is seen in children and young people, especially in the number of life-threatening allergic reactions in children. The number of hospital admissions for severe allergic reactions in children increased 7-fold in the last 10 years.